What does investment grade mean?

The underlying investments of the Blossom Fund will be selected for being investment grade.

Ratings agencies such as Standard and Poors (S&P) and Moodys assess a bond’s likelihood to repay principal and interest and express this through a credit rating. Using the S&P rating scale as an example, a bond rated at the highest level of AAA is deemed to be highly likely to repay principal and interest in a timely manner and highly unlikely to default. Bonds rated BBB- and above are all considered investment grade, while bonds rated below BBB- are regarded as speculative.

The Blossom portfolio will maintain an average credit rating of investment grade and we note that there has never been a default of an Australian investment grade bond.